Defining general semantics as the study of words or symbols and their effects on human behavior, this paper proposes a general semantics approach to the teaching of style in college introductory speech courses. The paper cites results of a 1980 survey of basic speech course content and emphases, showing that while most courses devote a great deal…

The effects of sexist language on the status and self-concept of women is investigated in this paper, with particular emphasis on media sexism. The paper first examines the origin and effects of some of the most common ways in which language is used to reinforce existing sex stereotypes. The paper then discusses: (1) ways to weed out of daily…

To investigate the speech of black college students for nonfluencies--linguistic elements breaking the flow of words or ideas--and to ascertain if students' attendance of a largely black or largely white university influenced their use of nonfluencies, 21 black students at a predominantly black university and 25 black students at a predominantly…

A study investigated developmental changes in children's fluency in interpreting metaphors. Specifically, it examined the development of an implicit interpretation strategy found in adults of mapping relational structure from base to target. Ten subjects from each of three age groups--five to six years, nine to ten years, and college-age…

Both Ireland and Canada are officially bilingual countries. There are similarities between the two countries and differences with regard to numbers of speakers and purposes for which speakers use Irish or French. Yet, a comparison of language policy in the two countries is possible, one which would focus on demographic, economic, social, cultural,…

Intended as a text to help teachers introduce college freshmen and sophomores to language through writing or to writing through introduction to language, this book emphasizes the relationship of linguistics to composition, literature, and the human condition. The nine chapters discuss the following topics: (1) three approaches to language, (2)…

A study examined the relationships between leadership conversation and its impact upon organizational members' levels of organizational identification and behavior. It was hypothesized (1) that effective leader conversation would be associated with higher levels of role, means, goal and overall organizational identification, and (2) that…

A collection of essays on linguistic variation in English that distinguishes communities and social groups from one another includes: "Standard English: Biography of a Symbol" (Shirley Brice Heath); "The Rise of Standard English" (Margaret Shaklee); "English Orthography" (Wayne O'Neil); "How Pablo Says 'Love' and…

A review of the literature on the development of children's abilities to comprehend and produce metaphorical language shows this development to be a continuous process rather than one characterized by stages, and to be constrained primarily by limitations in children's knowledge and information processing abilities. More specifically, the…

Written examinations are considered to be more searching than oral ones; they are less subject to chance because they give more time to the student for reflection, and they do not favor one type of learner over another. This view is taken even though language is speech before it is writing. While there may be a need for a complementary oral…

The 14 articles in this journal issue provide suggestions for making language study interesting. Specific topics discussed in the articles include (1) metaphors, (2) expressing feelings, (3) grammar for speakers of nonstandard English dialects, (4) medical jargon, (5) grammar in the writing process, (6) the rhetoric of teacher comments, (7) slang,…

Two case studies of language use in bilingual classrooms are presented. The first case study focuses on the functions of the teacher's speech in a twelfth grade civics class. One 50-minute lesson was recorded and transcribed. The two classroom languages, English and Spanish, were coded according to their use for information, elicitation,…

Child acquisition of Mandarin was studied with four middle class families from Taipei, Taiwan. The 2-year-olds were taped at home playing with their families. Two of the children were taped for short periods (7 hours and 9 hours), while the other two children were studied biweekly for 14 months, which resulted in 71 hours of transcribed child…

The study reported in this monograph represents two years of data collection designed to explore the social meaning of language in naturalistic classroom settings. The first part of the book presents the framework within which the study was carried out. The first chapter explicates the framework provided by prior research on classroom language,…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 9 titles deal with the following topic: (1) the implications of Foucault's archeological theory of discourse for contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, (2) isolating the behavioral correlates of deception, (3) the…